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T O P I C R E V I E W

mode1charlie

This "absolutely stunning" flag that was 'flown to the moon on the Apollo 15 mission" was supposedly purchased "from the estate of flight director Glynn Lunney" and "is guarenteed authentic!" [sic].

This may come as news to Mr. Lunney, who the last time I checked, was very much alive.

Robert Pearlman

Without commenting on the authenticity of the flag, you needn't be dead to hold an estate sale. Some people hire estate salesmen when they are moving, or simply down-scaling their possessions.

That said, caveat emptor.

SpaceAholic

Don't think the seller is attempting to be dishonest here. Most folks are unfamiliar with Lunney or his role in the program (and the listing doesn't even really attempt to exploit/hype up the provenance).

mode1charlie

Well, Robert - you're right. I always thought an estate sale referred specifically to the sale of items owned by people who have passed on, but after your comment I checked Wikipedia, which says:

An estate sale or estate liquidation is a sale or auction to dispose of a substantial portion of the materials owned by a person who is recently deceased or who must dispose of his or her personal property to facilitate a move.

I stand corrected on the definition. But does anyone know if Mr. Lunney has indeed proffered part of his collection to an estate sale? (I don't plan to bid on the item either way, so this is purely out of curiosity on my part.)

stsmithva

Strange that there is nothing whatsoever included in the listing that would prove the flag was flown. It isn't on one of the usual certificates, and there is nothing written on it. The seller doesn't say how he knows it was flown, much less how he knows it was on Apollo 16.

SkyMan1958

The seller has a positive feedback rating of 98.6. That is a red warning, as basically anything below 99+% on eBay is not a good sign.

Rick Mulheirn

At the risk of stating the obvious the lack of provenance means the flag is worthless.

rgarner

quote:Originally posted by SkyMan1958:...anything below 99+% on eBay is not a good sign.

Completely disagree. The fact that you can't give buyers negative feedback (which is ridiculous) has led people to be more cavalier in their approach to feedback, meaning if there is an issue then people simply leave negative feedback without trying to resolve the situation - that is MY personal experience.

I do however think it is important to read the negative feedback, rather than just look at the percentage to see what type of problem was encountered.

rgarner

Here is the sellers negative feedback:

Item did not work, Did not respond to 2 emails, very poor service

hate to do this, clock did not work and seller will not help

Both refer to electrical items. You can't judge this flag on account of this feedback.

But with that said... I do agree with the other comments above. My issue is that there is no real detail given on the listing, nor is there a COA of any kind.

Hart Sastrowardoyo

Feedback is a numbers game, and doesn't really tell much about transaction. How many pluses do you put after the A? How does 'fast payment' tell you about the buyer, and does it mean within 3 days or 10? How does 'great item, thanks!' tell you about the seller?

rgarner

You're right in the sense that is does nothing to uphold any authenticity that this item has, that can only be done with a legitimate COA and/or historical provenance. In this instance, that is the case. But to say that having 1 or 2 negative feedback ratings out of hundreds makes a bad seller is obviously, both logically and mathmatically, wrong.

If it says 'great ebayer, etc.' then that is good enough to know the seller has delivered a service suitable to that individual. The above feedback clearly states that the seller was not interested in resolving the problem, THAT is useful. But again, doesn't help in this case. I was merely pointing out that the feedback system has a lot of flaws and such things should always be taken with a pinch of salt, not used as gospel.

mach3valkyrie

I emailed the seller asking if there was any proof or provenance that this flag flew on Apollo 15. I haven't received a reply as yet.

Right now the bid is $406 with 4 bids from 2 different bidders, so maybe proof won't matter to some.

fredtrav

I had done the same thing yesterday and again today. Have heard nothing. Right now it is a nice American flag you can buy anywhere.

BMckay

The seller's response:

If you would like to take it to a third party company to get authenticated, i can guarentee it will pass. The flag was part of Glynn's scrapbook from NASA and was labeled "Flown to the Moon on Apollo 15 Mission" underneath the flag. It was purchased directly from his estate along with other NASA items. I have not gone through all of the items yet so I'm not sure if there is any more flown items. What I did see are many photos of the astronauts frp, the Apollo 15 mission at Glynn's house in Old Forge, PA and various photos of other Apollo missions.

Greggy_D

And the "third party" will not pass authentication without provenance.

SpaceAholic

He's already offering some implicit provenance...that would be his parents house (in Old Forge) evidently.

fredtrav

Here is his reply to my question about provenance:

If you would like to take it to a third party company to get authenticated, i can guarentee it will pass. The flag was part of Glynn's scrapbook from NASA and was labeled "Flown to the Moon on Apollo 15 Mission" underneath the flag. It was purchased directly from his estate along with other NASA items. I have not gone through all of the items yet so I'm not sure if there is any more flown items. What I did see are many photos of the astronauts frp, the Apollo 15 mission at Glynn's house in Old Forge, PA and various photos of other Apollo missions.

The problem with sending it to a third party authenticator is there is nothing to authenticate. I believe this is probably real, but there is no way to prove it.

mach3valkyrie

I got the same reply from the seller, word for word.

Tallpaul

Why not post a picture of the flag on the actual page from the scrapbook?

fredtrav

Does not Glynn Lunney live in Houston? I know he was born in Old Forge, PA, but I believe he has lived in the Houston area for many years.

I guess it is possible for him to have kept the family home and is now cleaning it out, but it seems odd that he would keep his scrapbooks and other items there.

vidoz

We can just speculate about the provenance of that item. But, if the seller doesn't offer any proof, to me, the flag doesn't worth anything.

So, I would stay away from it.

mach3valkyrie

The flag sold for $999.54 with 11 bids from 4 bidders. Someone thinks it has great value, but lacking a solid provenance, it looks like money wasted to me.

onesmallstep

Right now on eBay there is a flown Nauru flag taken aboard Apollo 15, signed/inscribed on the front by Col. Al Worden, and with a COA from him, at a 'Buy it Now' price of $1,875.00. So do you take your chances on the Lunney flag, or opt to go with an authenticated one with great provenance at double the price? Decisions, decisions.

fredtrav

There are about 55 flown Apollo 15 flown flags signed by Al Worden on eBay for $1875. There is a make offer button on them. As these were selling in auction for about $1000 you could make an offer around that amount or a littler higher and see what he says.

An American flag especially an 11X8 is worth more than these, but without the provenance it is not worth anything. Anyone could buy an 11x8 flag and say it came from an astronaut and was flown to the moon. I wrote the seller and suggested he pull the flag until he could get a notarized letter from Mr. Lunney stating its provenance. I told him with this he might double, triple, or more his money, but he ignored it.